Method of making drinking-cups



A. N'EtSON AND B. B AVERY.. METHOD OF MAKING DRINKINGCUPS.

APPLICATION FILED APR-4| 191B.

Patnted June 1, 1920.

ALEXANDER NELSON,'OF ITEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AND BENJAMIN B. AVERY, OF NEWYORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 GERMPROOF CUP CORPO-RATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1920.

Application filed April 4, 1918. Serial No. 226,595.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER NELSON and BENJAMIN B. AVERY, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, State of New Jerseand New York.

city, county and State of l\ew York, respectively, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Drinking-Cups, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to sanitary drinking cups, the object of theinvention being to provide an improved method of making the same wherebythe cup'can be readily, quickly and inexpensively made from a blank sothat it may be discarded after it is once used.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking sanitary drinking cups, which can be readily made in a machine byfolding a severed blank in such way that the side edges of the blankwill be efficiently locked by the folding of the blank, so as to preventthe premature separation of the edges in use. We are aware of the factthat it is not new to provide a drinking cup from a folded blank havingits longitudinal edges folded a plurality of times so as to form a cup,such as shown in the Powers, Patent 1,107,347, owned by our company, butthe primary ob ject of our invention however, is to improve that cup byso folding the side edges thereof that such side edges will form anefficient lock, and by so folding a projecting portion of the cup oversuch side edges that the locking of the side edges will be moreeffectively secured.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,

igure 1 illustrates. a severed blank, it being understood that the blankis severed from a'roll of paper carrying a sufficient amount of paper topermit the formation of a large number of cups; Fig. 2 illustrates theblank folded upon itself crosswise thereof; Fig. 3 illustrates anotherstep in the formation of the cup, this figure showing the side edgesfolded once; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 4-4, Fig. 3;Fig. 5 illustrates another step in the formation of thecup; and Fig. 6illustrates the completed. cup.

The first step after the blank is severed from the roll is illustratedin Fig. 2,the second step in Figs. 3 and 4, the third step in Fig. 5,and the fourth step in Fig. 6.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures of the drawing.

The primary object of the present improvement, as stated, is theprovision of an improved method of making a folded cup, by which theside edges are so locked that the separation thereof is practicallyprevented and for this purpose, after the blank 2 is severed from itsroll, it is first folded transversely thereof as at 3, Fig. 2, and

along the dotted line 4 of Fig. 1 to form two substantially equalportions 5 and 6, except that the portion 6 is provided with aprojecting flap 7 for the purpose hereinafter specified. After the blankhas been folded in the manner shown in Fig. 2, its two side edges arefolded together to form a comparatively narrow fold as 8 (see Figs. 3and 4).

In the patent hereinbefore referred to, these side edges were then againfolded upon themselves, but in the present improve- 'ment the side edgesof the blank cup are then folded forwardl as at 9 upon, for instance,the front 0 the portion 6, thus bringing the folded side edges 8 injuxtaposition to the folded portion 9, and this is obtained in practiceby tucking in the material as at 10, Fig.- 5, thereby simultaneouslyforming the fold 9 and bringing the side edges 8 in juxtaposition tosuch folded 'portion' 9, whereupon as the almost completed cup passesthrough the machine, it is crimped as at 11 thereby to maintain thefolds in position. The last step in forming the cup consists in turningover the flap 7 upon the front of the portion 6, and this turned-overflap 7 also assists in maintaining the folded side edges locked aswell-as providing a smooth mouth piece for the user.

From the foregoing it will be seen that each cup blank severed from aweb of paperis of suflicient length to form two sides 5 and 6 and aprojecting flap 7. I

In practice, the cup may be made liquid proof by the use of paraflinpaper or by coatmg the paper with paraffin or some other suitablesubstance, and this may be helpful in preserving the edges of the paperas well as securing the locked edges in position.

In the formation of this cup' it will be observed that the two sideedges of the cup are parallel, so that the cup has the same capacityfrom top to bottom, and it is unnecessary in the formation of this cupto cut the blank other than to sever the same from the roll in order tomake the cup.

It will also be observed that the first fold as 8 is a narrow fold, andthat by tucking in the two side edges to form the folds 9, this narrowfold is brought into juxtaposition with a part of the-fold 9, and infront of what may be considered the front of the cup, since the part 6forms the front side of the cup in view of the fact that it carries 7the mouth flap 7, and that the folds are not obtained in the presentimprovement by first folding a large portion of the side edges and thenfolding portions of such folded parts as the folds 8 are notsubsequently folded, except as they are brought intojuxtaposition to thefolded portions 9. Of course in practice, after the folded edges 8 areinadefa second fold along the dotted lines 12 could be made by turningthe folded edges '8 backwardly upon the portion 6 ,along the dottedlines 12 and then forwardly along the dotted lines 13, but it ispreferable in practice to obtain this wide fold by tucking in the edgesin the manner hereinbefore described, whereby both portions 10 and 10"are brought together at the same time thereby saving one folding step inthe manufacture of the cup.

It will be observed that'the first fold 8 is a narrow fold, while thetucked in fold is a comparatively wide fold. a

It will also be observedthat in forming this cup the side edges of theflap are simultaneously folded with the side edges of the cup proper orbody of the cup, so that when the flap is folded down the folded sideedges of the flap more efiiciently lock the folded side edges of the cupproper, while the necessity of performing a separate cutting operationto cut away these folded side edges of the flap is also avoided.

We claim as our invention:

1. The method of forming a drinking cup, which consists in folding apreviously severed blank to form a pair of flat equally wide strai htparallel side edges and comprising a ront and a back, one of the sidesbeing longer than the other thereby to form a flap, then folding theside edges of the cup proper and theflap in one direction with a narrowfold, then folding such folded side edges in the opposite direction witha wider fold, then crimping such folded side edges,

and then folding over the flap with its folded edges crosswise of thecup and down upon the back of the fiat side carrying such 2. The methodof forming a drinking cup, which consists in folding a previouslysevered blank to form a pair of flat sides comprising a front and aback, one of the sides being longer than the other thereby to form aflap, then folding the side edges of the cup proper and the flap in onedirection with a narrow fold, then folding such fdlded side edges in theopposite direction with a wider fold, and then folding over the flapwith its folded edges crosswise of the cupto lock such folded sideedges.

3. The method of making a sanitary dri'nking cup, which consists infolding a severed blank cross-wise thereof to form a pair of flat sidescomprising a front and a back with one of the sides longer than theother to form a flap, then folding the parallel side edges of the cupproper and the flap in one direction and then tucking in such foldedside edges to form a fold extending in the opposite direction, and thenfolding over the flap with its folded side edges thereby to lock thefolded side edges of the cup proper. I

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 26th day of March, 1918.

' ALEXANDER NELSON. BENJAMIN B. AVERY.

